In 2018, 46 countries expressed their commitment to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by voluntarily presenting national reviews of their progress on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 2018 High-level Political Forum (HLPF). Analysis of these voluntary national reviews (VNRs) found that, although monitoring is strong, evaluation receives almost no attention. VNR reporting is not incorporating evaluative evidence, particularly equity-focused and gender-responsive evidence. Access to disaggregated data is a core challenge to tracking progress. Nevertheless, countries are actively looking for solutions, recognising that gender equality is an enabler and accelerator in achieving all the SDGs. Equity-focused, genderresponsive implementation, assessment and evaluation of the 2030 Agenda offers an opportunity for transformative change to achieve gender equality and equity in the SDGs era and beyond.

Download and Sharing

Project information

Evaluation processes will play a key role in national and global review systems for the Sustainable Development Goals. IIED and EVALSDGs are publishing a series of briefings about evaluation designed to help promote effective conduct and use of evaluation in SDGs implementation, follow-up and review.